When You're Gone
by Criala
Summary: Sakura loses someone important to her. What will she do?


This was written about two or three years ago.  
The song is When You're Gone by Avril Lavigne.  
Enjoy!

* * *

_I always needed time on my own_

She had never thought that she would actually want the time from him. She knew that her feelings for him had not dimmed in the slightest. But... She just needed some time alone.  
He was ALWAYS there, whenver she turned around.  
It was slightly... What was the word that she was looking for?  
Annoying? Irritating? Suffocating? It was one of those words.  
But now... She regretted it.  
Because...  
He wasn't there anymore...  
She knew that she had never treated him the best.  
But, she didn't want him gone.  
She never thought it would end up like this.  
Not in a million years.

_I never thought I'd need you there when I cry_

She never realized how much she would miss him if he were gone.  
Now... She regretted everything that she ever said to him.  
All the times that she punched him silly.  
She remembered actually telling him that he would never be as good as that rival of his.  
But... Him being gone now, it made her realize...  
Just how empty her life would be without him...  
Now that he was really gone.  
She almost couldn't handle it.  
It was almost too much for her to bare.

_And the days feel like years when I'm alone_

Time dragged on slowly after the news of his death had reached the village...  
Though, it was expected...  
Everyone had grown to like him alot.  
First his teacher and now him...  
Him dying put a giant weight on her shoulders.  
She had not told him of the feelings that she held for him...  
She regretted it so much now.  
Nothing could remove this horrible weight that lay upon her shoulders now...  
The only thing that could is gone forever, never to return again.

_And the bed where you lie _  
_Is made up on your side_

She pushed the door to his house open and took a step inside.  
It was the day that they cleared away the stuff that he had left behind.  
There wasn't alot... But, it all looked exactly the way he had left it...  
Only one piece was missing, stopping it from being a perfect picture.  
And that piece... It was him.  
She looked over the other wise empty room.  
She could still almost see him standing there...  
But, she knew that it was not possible.  
Because he was gone forever...

_When you walk away  
__I count the steps that you take_

She remembered the day when he was leaving to go on that mission.  
The one that he never returned from...  
The one that he died on just because he was one second too late looking behind his back..

~He grinned at her. "Don't worry! I promise that I'll be back in one piece!" He had said that as he was beginning to walk out of the gates, waving at her.  
She had a bad feelings about this...  
But she just pushed it aside and waved back.~

She also remembered when the shinobi that was sent to deliver the news had arrived... He had asked where the hokage was.  
Said that he had urgent news.  
She was right outside the door when he had told Tsunade the heart breaking news...

~She was just getting ready to grab the door handle when she heard a new voice inside the room with Tsunade.  
"I'm sorry to report this... But..." There was a pause.  
"But what? What is it?" She heard Tsunade asked.  
"Well, um... He is severly injured..." The ninja said.  
"And?"  
"I'm sorry... But... We can not save him. He was attacked from behind. He was only one second too late. No one saw it coming. There's nothing that we can do." He said quietly.  
Her eyes widened considerably and she gasped silently as she backed away from the door as quietly as she could.  
Ready to go try and save him.  
Maybe... She could save him...~

_Do you see how much I need you right now?_

She was standing against the bridge, looking down at the water.  
Nothing was the same...  
Nothing at all...  
She was just staring at her reflection in the water.  
She had never realized just how much she needed him in her life until he wasn't in it anymore.  
She shook slightly, choking back a sob.  
She pushed herself away from the railing when she thought she saw his reflection in the water instead of her own.  
It was pointless to think that it was actually him...  
She knew that. But... She just didn't want it to be true.  
She didn't want him to actually be gone...

_When you're gone_  
_ The pieces of my heart are missing you_

Slowly... Everyone began to accept it.  
But... Not her.  
She couldn't just accept the fact that he was gone and never coming back.  
Anyone could see what it had done to her.  
It completely broke her heart into a billion little sharp edged peices.  
It was impossible to be put back together.  
Only he could pick up the pieces and make her heart whole again.  
But...  
He wasn't alive. So, he couldn't.  
She missed him with all the tiny little pieces of her heart.  
It hurt alot.  
She couldn't deny it.  
She knew that she couldn't.  
She wasn't even going to try to...

_When you're gone _  
_The face I came to know is missing too_

Her eyes on the ground as she walked through the village.  
She didn't want to look around and see that he wasn't there.  
It was like looking for the final missing piece puzzle piece that would complete the puzzle that you've been working on for years.  
Only to find out that the puzzle piece was not there.  
The was exactly what would happen.  
She would look for him in the crowds, only to remember that he wasn't ever going to be there again.

_When you're gone _  
_The words I need to hear to always get me through the day _  
_And make it okay  
I miss you_

It was harder and harder to go on with him gone.  
She never thought that she would miss him as much as she did.  
She didn't think that it was possible for her to miss HIM the way that she did.  
But... She still did miss him.  
No matter what anyone said, she still did.  
She couldn't help it.  
He had been there for her for years.  
Even when she didn't want him there, which was most of the time, he was there.  
To try to help her.

_I've never felt this way before_

She didn't think she could ever feel this way.  
Over the time that he had been gone, she had come to understand what she felt for him even more.  
She realized that she felt even more for him than she had originally thought.  
But now...  
He would never know.  
And it almost killed her knowing that.

_Everything that I do _  
_Reminds me of you_

Anything that she did nowadays, reminded her of something that he would do.  
Anytime she ate...  
She'd see him right next to her, stuffing his face with that grin of his plastered on his face.  
His eyes shining in the sun as he went on about the dream that he had.  
It was enough to make her almost start crying.  
It was almost too much for her.

_And the clothes you left _  
_They lie on the floor _  
_And they smell just like you_

She sat alone in her room, on her bed.  
She was staring at the pile of clothes that had belonged to him She couldn't let them just throw all of his stuff into a box and put it in storage.  
No... It just wasn't right to do to his stuff.  
After everything that he had done...  
That he had accomplished.  
The things that no one thought that he could do.  
The people that he had changed.  
The people he had proved wrong.  
If they just threw his stuff in a box, they'd just forget about it...  
About him...  
She couldn't let that happen.  
He deserved to be remembered.  
Not forgetten like some random person who meant nothing.

_I love the things that you do_

She had never before realized how much she loved the little things that he would do for her.  
She never thought about what it would be like.  
Sadly, she had never really cared before.  
She wished that she had cared sooner.  
Before it was too late to make up for it.

_When you walk away _  
_I count the steps that you take_

~She had gotten there quickly.  
She was thankful that it wasn't too far from the village.  
What she saw, tore her heart into pieces.  
There was a large spike in his back, it was sticking out of his stomach.  
He just stood there, his head facing down.  
His eyes were half way close.  
But then...  
Ever so slowly...  
He fell backwards.  
His konoha headband untied and hit the ground before his body collided with the ground.  
"No!" She screamed as she ran towards his almost lifeless body.~

_Do you see how much I need you right now?_

~"No, you have to stay awake! You can't just go like this!" She cried as she held his bloody, limp body close to hers. "YOU CAN'T!"  
His eyes were barely open.  
He was barely there...  
"I... I'm... Sorry..." He said, his voie barely above a whisper. "I... I... B-Broke... M-My... Promise... T-To... Y-You..." Then his eyes fully close as he took his last breath, his heart slowly stopping.  
He went completely limp in her arms.  
"No..." She whispered as she checked his pulse. There was no pulse.  
"NOOOOO!" She screamed as she began to break down sobbing.~

_When you're gone _  
_The pieces of my heart are missing you_

"I can't take it anymore..." She whispered softly as she put her hand on the picture of him that was on his grave.  
"I just can't..."  
She ran her hand over the tomb stone.  
"I can't just walk around like everything is okay. Because it's not! It's not okay! Because your not here anymore! I just can't take it! I need you here..." Her shouting soon became a soft whisper as her tears began to pour at a faster rate. "I just need you..."

_When you're gone _  
_The face I came to know is missing too_

It was getting harder and harder for her to just live her life like he had never been there at all.  
It was slowly getting to her...  
No one seemed sad about the fact that he was gone anymore.  
No one seemed to be mourning the second biggest lose that year.  
Did they just not care anymore?  
If that was so, how could they not?  
How could they just... Not care about him?  
About him never walking those streets again?  
Never...  
Doing anything...  
Ever again...  
She just couldn't understand it.

_When you're gone _  
_The words I need to hear to always get me through the day _  
_And make it okay_  
_ I miss you_

Nothing could cheer her up.  
Nothing at all.  
The only thing that could hope to... Was forever gone.  
She was sad all the time now.  
She couldn't even fake being happy.  
Because... She was torn and broken apart inside.  
She couldn't fake what she couldn't feel at the moment.  
She felt so... So empty. So alone. So... Lonely without him around.

_We were made for each other _  
_Out here forever _  
_I know we were _  
_Yeah, yeah_

Now, she would have given anything for him come back.  
Anything. Everything.  
But... She could not.  
She was slowly breaking down.  
And she knew that she couldn't stop it.  
Slowly... She was getting closer and closer to the edge.  
Nothing could help her now.  
No one could...  
No one that was alibe now anyways...

_And all I ever wanted was for you to know _  
_Everything I do _  
_I give my heart and soul_

She was so close to just giving it all up.  
Because, she only feel empty now.  
She felt nothing but sad and emptiness.  
There was this hole deep inside...  
That she could never ever hope to fill again.  
It would never again be whole. She would never again be whole...  
No matter how hard she tried...

_I can hardly breathe _  
_I need to feel you here with me _  
_Yeah_

She soon understand one of the reasons that she was feeling this way...  
She NEEDED him with her or she could not live anymore.  
Since he was not there...  
She would make the biggest decision of her life.  
Later that night, she pulled out the weapon that she wanted to use for the task she had in mind.  
A long sword that she had taken from Kakashi.  
She knew that he would noticed that it was missing soon so she had to do this fast.  
She held it up by the blade and pointed it towards herself.  
She murmured. "We'll be together soon..."  
Then she took a deep breath as she plunged the sword towards herself.

_When you're gone _  
_The pieces of my heart are missing you_

Tsunade was shocked to hear what she had just been told. She never thought that she would resort to this...  
She sighed, tears almost escaping her eyes.  
Tsunade figured that they would have the funeral the next day...  
She would be buried next to him...  
She would have wanted it that way.

_When you're gone _  
_The face I came to know is missing too_

The funeral was close to an end. It was time for Tsunade to speak.  
She stood in front of the entire village, perparing what had wanted to say inside her head.  
She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak. "It is still a mystery as to why this has happened. But... I know we all know why. She should be remembered at a great ninja who could have gone far. If he had not died, she would still be here with us. As would he. It would have been better if neither of them had died, but this is the path fate has chosen for them and we cannot change that..."

_When you're gone _  
_The words I need to hear will always get me through the day _  
_And make it okay _  
_I miss you_

After the funeral, Sasuke stood in front of the two graves, just staring at them.  
"Never thought that you two would go before me..." He sighed. "Quite a shock..." He laughed slightly... To try to ease the pain.  
But it was a sad attempt.  
It did not work.  
He looked over the tomb stones once more, reading what they had said.

**'Naruto Uzumaki. October 10 1992 to November 2 2007. He was a great shinobi. He would have done anything for a teammate. He should be remembered with admiration and he will be greatly missed. Student to Kakashi Hatake and Jiraiya. Son to the fourth Hokage.'**

**'Sakura Haruno. March 28 1993 to January 3 2008. She was a great medical shinobi, she was taught by the best. She will be greatly missed. Student to Kakashi and Tsunade.'**

He gave one last sigh.  
He came back at just the right time, didn't he?  
He slowly turned around and began to walk away as he left the graves of his former teammates.  
As he walked away...  
He realized that...  
He had come back to the village too late...  
He would never see them...  
Or their faces...  
Ever again...


End file.
